The Trunk
by AlexisVeronica
Summary: Zannie finds an old trunk in her Gramma's basement full of old journals, sketchbooks, and an old key. Join Zannie as she delves into the mystery of her family's past.
1. Default Chapter

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing that any of you recognize. Other than that, I guess that I own everything else.

Zannie O'Connell walked up the set of stairs in her new home, carrying two large brown boxes with her. "Damn, these things are really heavy. What the hell did I pack into these?" she asked herself, setting the two boxes down in the door way of a large room.

Two months ago, Zannie had lived in California with her family. She had a nice life; everything was pretty easy for her. Her grades were exceptional and her friends were always there for her. Then one day, her happy little world started to crumble right before her eyes. She was at school when she got the phone call. Her grandmother, Gramma Rose, had passed away. Gramma Rose had been the most understanding about Zannie and her petty little teenage problems. Whenever something didn't seem right to Zannie, she would depend upon her grandmother to make things right again. Zannie had felt like she lost not only one of her relatives, but one of her friends as well.

Zannie's family had flown out to New York, where Gramma Rose had lived, for the funeral. When her parents and her grandmother's lawyer met, Zannie found out that her grandmother had left most of her possessions not to her son, but to her granddaughter. It was at that moment that Zannie decided to live and go to college in New York.

Zannie stood, looking about her grandmother's home. She had only been here a handful of times, and that was mostly when she was younger, so she had never gotten the chance to explore. She heard the grunts and talk of some of the movers downstairs. They were still moving things into her new home, but she didn't like it. It felt as though the mover's were invading Zannie's personal space, and she wanted them out as quickly as possible.

She rushed down the stairs and quickly found a mover who didn't seem to be doing anything. "Is it okay if your men could just bring everything inside for me? I'll put everything into the separate rooms later myself," she asked, looking the mover in the eyes.

The man scratched his head and answered. "Okay lady, if that's what you want," he told her, then turned and walked away, relaying the message to the others.

About twenty minutes later, everything was in the house and the movers had driven away in their trucks. "Now, just some peace and quiet," Zannie said out loud to herself. She sat down at one of the boxes marked 'basement' and opened it to see what was inside. A few old stuffed animals poked their heads up after she opened the box, and somewhere down near the bottom, an old music box started to play. The blonde haired 18 year old looked startled for a moment, than dug around in the box until she found the source of the music. Zannie shut the lid and the music died instantly, leaving her in complete and utter silence. Finally, she stood up, taking the box down into the basement.

The basement of the home was large with an old wooden floor. Zannie had never been down there when she had visited her grandmother, so she had no idea what lay before her for her to discover. As it turned out, there really wasn't much for her to find.

"Really Gramma, I thought that you would have left something more interesting for me to find than just a bunch of old boxes full of junk," Zannie thought, but just as she was thinking this, she tripped over a large trunk in a corner of the basement.

"Ow, damn. Well Gramma, you didn't have to answer me you know," she mumbled, hopping around on one foot while nursing the other. The pain in her left foot finally subsiding, the girl sat down next to the trunk.

The trunk looked old, and it also looked like it had once been a nice red color, but that had long ago faded into a sort of reddish-brown. There was a rusty lock on the outside, but with a few good tugs, the lock broke and Zannie lifted the lid to see what lay inside.

A few books, bundles of newspapers, and fabric were lying on top. Zannie quickly took these out, delving for more interesting things. She reached in and pulled out a sketchbook. A quick glance through it told the young woman that she had just struck gold. It was filled with sketches of newsboys waving papers over their heads, young kids playing marbles in the street, and a certain young lady who looked suspiciously like her grandmother.

"I will most definitely investigate you later," she told the inanimate object. She lay the sketchbook down by the other things and went back into the trunk. A wedding album, a few journals, and a key on a rotting string were her next finds. She quickly flipped through the wedding album, but put it down after a minute or two. What Zannie was really interested in were the key and the journals. She picked the key up and hung it, rotting string and all, around her neck. Next, she picked up one of the journals.

"Aiden 'Spot' Conlon," she whispered, reading the name on the front cover. "Who are you?" She opened the book to the first page and began to read aloud.

So… what do you think? I will accept constructive criticism but no flames, please read and review. Also I will be conducting a small CC. I only need about four girls, two to be Zannie's modern friends and two to be female Brooklyn newsies. This is what I need

Name:

Nickname: (If you have one, please tell the story behind it)

Age:

Physical description:

Personality:

And for those of you who wish to answer the CC for one of Zannie's friends I need what their job is and what college they attend. (College must be located in New York, as the characters will be getting together to investigate the contents of the trunk)

I think that that's it! Please read and review!

Dreamer


	2. Chapter 2

Okay… A lot of you put your characters into the CC, but like I said, I can only choose four people. All of the characters were really great, but I chose them based on the personalities, not first come, first serve. These are the people who I decided would best fit the plot of the story.

Smartass- Zannie's friend

Cat- Zannie's friend

Artemis- Newsie

Shooter- Newsie

And for all of you who submitted your characters… thank you. I had a really hard time deciding who to put in. Also, for all of you who reviewed, thanks for the incredible encouragement to continue on with this story. Also, I'm not really doing any accents because the spelling pisses both my computer and me off, so you may have to use your imaginations a little bit, but I know that you can do it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, or Smartass, Cat, Artemis, or Shooter. Don't sue!

And Now… The Trunk!

"Aiden 'Spot' Conlon," she whispered, reading the name on the front cover. "Who are you?" She opened the book to the first page and began to read aloud.

xxxxxxxxxxx

September 21, 1886

Okay, so, here's the deal. Today was my first official day as the leader of the Brooklyn newsies. About a week ago, Jay, the old leader of the newsies, left, leaving no one in charge. It was total and utter chaos around here, and I was starting to get really irritated, so I decided to step in and calm everyone down. Well, surprise, surprise, the newsies wanted me to be their next leader. I told everyone that I would think about it.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I was sitting down on my bunk, thinking about why the hell the Brooklyn newsies would want me as their leader, when Artemis, one of my good friends, came over and sat down next to me. I looked over at her and she frowned at my pissed expression. Artemis always seemed to know what I was thinking, ever since we met when she tried to pick the pocket of one of my customers and I got blamed for it.

She has dark brown hair, which is cut above her shoulders and grey eyes. Today she was dressed in a pair of black pants and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"So, Spot, what are you going to do? Are you going to take the position as leader? Because I know that if you wait too long to decide, everything's going to get even more messed up than it is now," Artemis told me, being her usual practical, pessimistic self.

"I think that, well, I don't know. I know that if I became these kids leader, I wouldn't be able to be friends with them. I would have to be stern and hard on them, even violent. Brooklyn didn't get its reputation by being a bunch of pansies," I told her.

"I know Spot. I think that you should take this chance, though. You can show people what you're made of, maybe even get a bigger reputation than you already have. And you could make Brooklyn one of the boroughs that people come to for help. You're smart and strong enough, so what do you think?" she retaliated, making some very good points in her argument.

I sighed. "I guess you're right. I'll do it, but you're gonna have to help me. I can't keep these newsies at bay by myself." Artemis smiled in spite of herself and we both spit shook on it.

"You should go tell everyone. Make your first speech, or whatever the hell you want to do. Just hurry up," Artemis said, shoving me through the doorway and down to the lower levels of the boarding house where the rest of the newsies would gather after selling their papers. We only had to wait for a few minutes before everyone started filing in, being noisy and other crap like that.

I took a deep breath in, and than shouted, "Shut up!" That got the attention of the Brooklyn newsies pretty damn quick, and before I knew it, I had launched into a speech. "Okay, here's what's going on. I'm your new leader. Now, Brooklyn was already respected before I was even here, so I wanna keep it that way. Anybody that gets out of line will have to answer to me. Anyone decides to cross my decisions will answer to me. I want your respect. I'll be fair to you, but you're gonna have to work to keep that privilege. Is that clear?" A few people nodded their heads and a murmur of agreement was heard from the crowd of boys and girls that stood, or sat, below me. "Good," I muttered, turning on my heels and going to my new room, the room that was once Jay's. I threw myself onto the bed muttering, "What the fuck did I just do?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie stopped reading the notebook that she held in her hands. "Okay, so I understand that you're the leader of the Brooklyn newsies, but that doesn't explain why your journal is in my grandmother's trunk." Zannie turned the book over, looking for any clues as to who this person might have been, but she found nothing. "Time to call in the experts," she thought as she put everything back into the trunk and started to lug the heavy trunk up the basement stairs.

She got upstairs and hooked up her computer, stereo, and telephone. Glancing at the trunk, she prepared to call two of her very good friends. "First, Smartass. Then Cat," Zannie muttered.

She dialed the first number and a girl with a thick Cockney accent answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Smartass, its Zannie. You'll never guess what I found in my basement," Zannie told her.

"No, I won't, so why don't you just bloody tell me," Smartass replied sarcastically.

"Well, okay. It's this really old trunk that has a whole bunch of journals and pictures and stuff from the late 1800's and early 1900's. I want you to come over so that we can check it out together, not to mention that I haven't seen you in a while. I'm inviting Cat as well."

"Cool. I'll be over in a little bit… Do you want me to pick anything up to eat, since I know that you haven't even set your house up yet. I know that you were too busy playing around in the old box to do anything else."

Zannie grinned sheepishly, even though Smartass couldn't see her. "Yeah. I didn't do anything else. Could you pick up a pizza and I'll call Cat?"

"Sure," Smartass replied, "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Yeah, bye." Zannie hung up with Smartass and called Cat. "Hey, Cat. It's Zannie."

"Oh hey, what's up?" said Cat in a cheery voice.

'Well, I found this really old trunk in my basement with a whole bunch of old stuff in it and I was wondering if you wanted to get together with me and Smartass to check it out?"

"A trunk… Cool! I like old things, well history anyway. Yeah, I'll totally be there. See you soon!"

"Yeah, bye," replied Zannie, who once again hung up the phone. She looked over at her stereo system and decided to play some tunes and look through the old photo albums until her friends arrived. Turning the radio on, Zannie realized that she was still wearing the key.

"I'll need to find a chain or a new piece of ribbon or string to hang this on so that I don't misplace this," she said to herself as she settled down on a blanket next to the trunk. She once again pulled out the photo albums, this time looking over each picture carefully. The pictures in the album were all in black and white and they featured a variety of different people, but the two most predominant ones were a young woman with what was obviously dark hair, and who looked, once again, suspiciously like her grandmother and a young man, who had the most piercing eyes Zannie had ever seen. She was so into looking at the pictures that she didn't even notice her doorbell ring.

"Hey, Zannie, what are you, deaf or something? Let us in, will you?" Smartass yelled. Zannie ran to let her two friends in. The first girl was about 5'7 with a muscular, curvy build, curly black hair, and bright blue eyes.

"Smartass, you brought the food… Why is there a slice missing?" Zannie wondered.

"I was hungry, what do you want from me?" Smartass, whose real name was Vaughn Kensington, answered. Zannie shook her head and gave a hug to the other person, a petite girl with green eyes and long blonde hair. This was Cathleen Fitzpatrick, better known as Cat.

"Come on inside, I really want to show you guys the things I found," Zannie said, quivering with excitement. History was what she lived for; she happened to work at one of the many museums that New York had. All three girls tramped up the stairs and inside.

Two hours later, the pizza was long gone and the girls were discussing the contents of the trunk.

"Well, this kid was the leader of Brooklyn, and he knew my Gramma Rose. They seem to have been really close, but they didn't know each other until Spot, or whoever this kid was, was older," Zannie contemplated.

"Hey, maybe this guy is your grandfather. He died even before your father was born, right?" Cat asked, shuffling through another stack of pictures.

"Yeah, maybe," Zannie answered, suddenly getting a bit of inspiration. She grabbed her pocket knife out of her purse and slid it underneath one of the pictures in the album until the picture came loose. She flipped it over, reading what she found written on the back aloud.

"Rose Donovan and Spot Conlon, Brooklyn Bridge, 1902," she said, looking up at her friends.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Okay… You know what to do. Review. Oh, and just to let you know, Zannie and her friends are in the modern world, but not 2004. It wouldn't make any sense that way because Zannie and her friends would be really old if they were in 2004. Anyway, please review!

Dreamer


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story so far. I've gotten really great feedback and it just keeps inspiring me to write.

Buttons14- Thanks for all the compliments and great feedback. The relationship between Spot and Zannie's grandma won't stay a secret for too much longer!

Shooter O'Brien- Thanks for letting me use your character and thanks for the compliments!

Sparks Kelly- Thank you for the review!

Ccatt- A little excited there, are we? I liked your character, and she fit what I needed, so I used her. Thanks for the great review!

koodles4you- The mystery will be revealed soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

C.M. Higgins- You figured it out! It wasn't that hard, but… heh, I'm still glad you figured it out. Keep reading and I'll keep writing!

SmartassLeprechaun- You're welcome for picking Smartass, and I based some of this on my own experiences. (I actually found a really old trunk in the basement of my house… it was really cool!)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, or Smartass, Cat, Artemis, or Shooter. Don't sue!

And now on to the story!

"Hey, maybe this guy is your grandfather. He died even before your father was born, right?" Cat asked, shuffling through another stack of pictures.

"Yeah, maybe," Zannie answered, suddenly getting a bit of inspiration. She grabbed her pocket knife out of her purse and slid it underneath one of the pictures in the album until the picture came loose. She flipped it over, reading what she found written on the back aloud.

"Rose Donovan and Spot Conlon, Brooklyn Bridge, 1902," she said, looking up at her friends.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The next few minutes were spent frantically trying to find any other pictures that had writing on the back of them. Cat searched through piles of pictures while Smartass and Zannie looked at the albums.

"Hah! I found it. I found it!" Smartass cackled wildly as she waved a picture in the air.

"What did you find?" asked Zannie as she rushed over to Smartass.

"My car keys… what does it look like I found, ya idiot?" Smartass replied, handing the photograph over to Zannie. All three girls leaned in to look at the picture. It was a photo of a wedding, and the bride and groom were none other than Zannie's grandmother and Spot Conlon. Rose had on a long white dress and was carrying a bouquet of flowers and Spot looked handsome in a simple suit and tie.

"Okay… this is my grandfather. Oh wow. Gramma Rose never mentioned him, ever, not even to my father. And Aunt Kris and Uncle Joe probably don't know much about him. They were both only one and a half when he died. They were probably too young to remember," Zannie said, wiping a tear off of her cheek. "I have to find out more about him. There has to be something in these journals that will tell me more about him."

Smartass looked at Cat, who was playing with her nails. "Well, uh, Cat and I have to work tomorrow, so we'll let you read your grandfather's journals in peace."

"Oh yeah, we do have tomorrow, don't we?" Cat said. "Oh, Zannie, I found this picture of a building… It looks a lot like this building, but in the picture there's a sign that says 'Brooklyn Lodging House'. Anyway, here it is," Cat told the quiet blonde. She handed the picture over and she and Smartass started to collect their things.

"Give us a ring tomorrow after work, okay Zannie? We want to see what else you find out about this 'Spot Conlon'" Smartass said, giving Zannie a hug.

"Yeah, I'll let you know. See you later," Zannie told her friends, as she walked them to the door. She watched as they both left, than shut the door and headed back to the living room.

"I guess this will be my living area for now," Zannie told herself as she spread more blankets and pillows on the floor. She grabbed a granola bar and a notebook and sat down to read.

xxxxxxxxxxx

April 2, 1887

Well, I couldn't write last night because I was, well, too drunk to even sit up. I threw a party yesterday for my birthday, and fuck if I know what even happened there. All I know is that there was a whole bunch of booze, girls, gambling, and fist fights. Actually, I think that Shooter, one of my only newsies who doesn't drink, is the only one who knew exactly what went on, but I didn't ask her.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I finally sat up in my bed, holding onto my head for dear life. "Oh shit, what the hell happened yesterday?" All that I remembered was throwing a huge party and inviting a whole bunch of people to attend. A sudden knock on my door made my head hurt twice as much as it had before. I sighed and stood up; knowing that I had to sell and make sure that everything was all right with he boys… and girls of Brooklyn. I just refer to everyone that I lead as the boys.

"Who is it?" I asked, making my way over to the door.

"It's Shooter. I have some breakfast for ya, though I don't know how much you're gonna be able to eat, since you were so drunk last night," said Shooter.

I snarled and yelled, "Shut up!" but that only made my head hurt even more. I bid Shooter to come in, even though I really wasn't decent, but I could care less. I'm the leader of Brooklyn for a reason. I'm insolent, arrogant, smart, proud, and strong, and I knew it too. No one would ever try to cross me.

Shooter came in with a bowl of something and a glass of water. She set them down on the table while I searched for a shirt and my suspenders.

"Ya have fun last night Spot?" Shooter asked. I studied her, giving her a calculating look. Shooter has straight brown hair and one green eye, and one purple eye. She's loud and obnoxious and sarcastic, but she's also very trustworthy.

"Tell me Shooter, how much of a jackass was I last night and how much money did Racetrack win off of me?" I took a sip of water to try and calm my raging headache. Shooter cringed.

"Well, you were bordering between asshole and jackass. And you lost three bucks, but you seemed to have a good time with the booze and the ladies, so overall, I'd say that you didn't do half bad. You only fell over in front of everyone once, and you made it to your room safely, with the help of half of Brooklyn's female population. It seemed to be a good night for you," she told me.

I snorted. "Yeah, well, I've got the headache… and the lipstick stains to prove it. Is everyone out getting their papes?"

"Yeah, Artemis made sure they got out safely. I gotta go sell, so I'll see ya later." Shooter left and shut the door behind her, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

"I guess that I had better get out there too," I told myself, and I grabbed my hat and cane and walked downstairs and out the door to the D.O.

"Boat crash in harbor leaves lives at stake," I yelled into the crowd. I was getting lucky today with the headlines and people were buying. My papes were being sold like rapid fire and I had high hopes of getting back to the Boarding house earlier than I usually do.

"Oh, there you are! I must have been waiting on the wrong corner for you John," I heard a young girl say. I thought she was talking to someone else, so I turned and went to yell another headline when I felt someone slip their arm into mine.

"Please, just play along, will you?" the girl asked as she looked over her shoulder at a young man who was steadily approaching us. I felt sorry for the girl, so I nodded my head, agreeing to play along.

I bent my head and kissed her cheek, and said, "You're late. I was starting to get worried."

The girl smiled prettily and answered. "Oh, well, I was waiting on the other corner and…" but she was cut off by the young man's intrusion. I sneered and looked the man over. He was taller than me, but looked thinner and stupider.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Rose? This kid is nothing but street trash!" the man stated, leaving me seething. I threw my papes down and advanced upon this man.

"Who the hell do you think you are, calling me street trash and talking to Rose that way? You have no right." The man went to take a swing at me, but I ducked and punched him in the stomach. "Come on Rose, let's get outta here," I told the girl. Picking up my papes and grabbing the girl's hand, I left the spot before the bulls came. We got a block away and I stopped, letting the girl take a rest. I finally got a good look at her, and boy I can tell you, she is pretty. Long dark brown hair and beautiful dark blue eyes, pale skin and a small waist. She's wearing a dark green dress that seems a little too big for her and a hat with a white lace string is hung about her neck.

"Thanks so much for playing along, that man was following me all day," she said. "I'm Rose Donovan and you are?"

I smirked and took my hat off, bowing low. "Spot Conlon, leader of the Brooklyn newsies, at your service, miss."

"Well, Spot, thank you for your help, but I have to be going now." Rose glanced around, as if to find out where we were.

"I'll walk you home, if you want," I offered, extending my arm.

"Well, Spot, I'd be delighted to have your company." Rose smiled and took my arm. We walked to her home, talking and laughing most of the way there. When we got to the front door, Rose spoke again. "Once again Spot, I thank you for what you did for me today. I'm very grateful."

"Well, you're welcome. I have to be getting back, but if you ever need me again, you can find me at the Brooklyn Newsboys Lodging House on West End Ave." I tipped my hat to her and turned around with a feeling that I would see her again.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"So that's how you and Gramma met. I'm sure that you and her had some really great times before you died, Spot," Zannie said to the book that she was holding. She yawned and looked at her watch. "Oh shit, it's 3:47! I really should get to bed. I'll read some more of this tomorrow." She stood up and turned out the light, returning to her makeshift bed in the middle of the living room floor. "Goodnight Gramma, Grampa," she sighed, as she lay her head onto the pillows and drifted off into the dreamland.

xxxxxxxxxxx

So… I hope that you like this chapter as well as you liked the last two! Please read and review, and for any new readers, I'd love to hear what you think of my story! Thanks.

Dreamer


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, thanks for the great feedback! I don't have time to do individual shout-outs to all the people who reviewed so…

**THANK YOU!**

There, I think that that just about says it all. And now, without any further ado………….. The Trunk.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, or Smartass, Cat, Artemis, or Shooter. Today's chapter was brought to you by cookies and cream ice cream and the band Dashboard Confessional.

"So that's how you and Gramma met. I'm sure that you and her had some really great times before you died, Spot," Zannie said to the book that she was holding. She yawned and looked at her watch. "Oh shit, it's 3:47! I really should get to bed. I'll read some more of this tomorrow." She stood up and turned out the light, returning to her makeshift bed in the middle of the living room floor. "Goodnight Gramma, Grampa," she sighed, as she lay her head onto the pillows and drifted off into the dreamland.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The sunlight streamed through the windows of Zannie's living room, gently waking her up. "Ugh, it's too early. This is beyond heinous. I really need to put up some curtains or something," Zannie groaned as she flipped over onto her stomach and squashed the pillow over her face. Zannie tossed and turned for a few more minutes, than decided that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so she sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She automatically reached her hand around her neck, feeling for the key.

"I don't know what you're used for, but somehow I think that you are very important," the sleepy blonde told the key. "And I really need to get out more, because I'm talking to non-living things and it's really starting to creep me out." Zannie turned on the radio and went to work at setting up her home, but it was harder than she thought it would be.

"Okay," she panted, "maybe I should take a shower and cool off for a little bit. Then I'll finish unpacking."

xxxxxxxxxxx

About six hours, lots of curses, and lots of rants about never moving again later, Zannie had moved all of her furniture into the spots she wanted and had unpacked most of her things.

"I think I need a well deserved break," she said to the painting on the wall, and she sat down on the couch with one of Spot's journals and a tall glass of iced tea.

xxxxxxxxxxx

April 10, 1887

Today has been quite interesting, to say the least. I woke up this morning, made sure everyone got out to sell their papers, and went about my day as I usually would. But that's not the interesting part.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey, you lazy bums, get your asses outta bed. Now! Come on Sting, get up. Boys, up! You got papes to sell, now move it!" I yelled at the boys, like I usually did every morning, cause Manhattan may have someone like Kloppman to take care of them, but Brooklyn's got no one. I went on to the girls bunkroom, knocking on the door before I entered. Artemis, Shooter, and Bumble were up and ready, but the rest of the girls were still sleeping.

"How come they can always sleep through me yelling at the boys to get up? These walls are thin, and I know that they can hear it." I said to Bumble, who shrugged her shoulders and pulled her red hair into a single long braid. "Alright, girls, time to get up. Get ready, we got papes to sell."

I went around, gently shaking each girl's shoulder to wake them up. There are fewer girls in Brooklyn than boys, so it didn't take me too long. I waited around the Lodging House until everyone except Artemis had gone.

"Come on Artemis, let's go get our papers. We got a lot of work ahead of us." Artemis nodded and we went to the D.O. laughing and talking the whole way there. I got my papers and started to sell while walking to my usual spot when Toy, one of my youngest newsies, came running up to me.

"Spot…there's a, uh…" Toy started to say, but she was out of breath from running so fast.

"Whoa, slow down. Take some time to catch your breath." I waited a few seconds until she could speak again, and then I asked, "So what's wrong?"

Toy shook her little head, her curls bouncing with every shake and her eyes wide. "There's someone from the West Side to see you. He says that it's really, uh, turgent, uh, yeah, that's it!"

I hid my smile and thanked Toy, sending her back to sell with Bumble. Someone from West Side is in my territory. "What the hell do they want?" I asked to myself as I picked up my speed and ran back to the Lodging House. Brooklyn and West Side aren't really on very good terms. I don't know why, but they just aren't. I opened the Lodging house door and saw one of my boys, Sparrow, sitting next to the person from West Side.

"Spot Conlon," said the West Sider. I knew him. Bear. Not one of my favorite people.

"Bear, what brings you to Brooklyn?" I asked, my voice cold and calculating, my eyes and ears alert. I didn't trust anybody from the West side, not since they'd been snooping around Brooklyn, trying to gain more territory.

"I caught this kid in my territory, Conlon," Bear answered, pointing to Sparrow. I looked at Sparrow, who seemed a little bit un-nerved by this, but not much. Brooklyn boys are made of pretty tough shit. Sparrow was sporting a black eye and a bloody lip.

"Sparrow, why were you in the West Side?" I asked, expecting a good answer.

"I was goin to see my girl, Lynn. She lives in West Side, ya know? So anyway, I was walking along the street, minding my own business, when a kid comes outta nowhere. He asked where I was from, so I told him, and I didn't even get to tell him that I was just goin to see me girl before he pounced on me. I had to defend myself, you know, so I started in on him. That's when this thug came and pulled me off, dragging me all the way back here." Sparrow finished his story, and wiped his lip with his shirt.

"Go wash up. I'll take care of this," I told him, and he walked away, muttering obscenities and something about 'crazy idiots.' I turned on Bear, my eyes burning into his, my hand on my cane. "What the fuck is this about, Bear? Because I know that it's not about Sparrow," I asked him.

Bear shrugged and said, "We West Siders have gotta take care of what's ours. We don't want no one from your borough in ours. No one. Is that clear?"

I smirked and stepped closer to Bear, my eyes holding a malicious glint. "Oh, I understand Bear. And tell Knuckles that the next time he wants to talk to me about something, he has to come himself, not send some idiot messenger to do his dirty work for him. I think that you know your way out of Brooklyn," I told him and started to turn away, but I felt a fist come down onto my shoulder.

I retaliated with an elbow in Bear's face and a knee in the crotch. He tried to get up, but I was just too fast for him. I pride myself on my speed and stamina more than I do my strength. I gave Bear a good rap over the head with my cane and shoved him out the door. "Don't come back to Brooklyn demanding things without your leader," I yelled after him, and I watched him stumble up and start walking away.

He turned around and said, "You better watch your back, as well as your newsies, Conlon. We wouldn't want anyone dead, now would we?" I walked out onto the front step and Bear turned and ran, just like the coward he is. I turned and walked back inside, noticing a few of my newsies standing there. Artemis was among them.

"Artemis, we have to be prepared for anything. When everyone gets back from selling, tell them to meet in here. I need to talk to all of them."

"What's wrong, Spot?" Artemis asked, worried. She hadn't been able to hear what Bear had said, but she was still worried.

"I think that West Side is gonna come back. Soon. And this time with more than just one person," I answered her, lighting a cigarette and walking up the stairs.

About thirty minutes, and five cigarettes, later, I heard someone knock on my door. I was sitting out on the roof, so I yelled for them to come in. It was Toy… again.

"Hiya Toy, how ya doing?" I asked her, inviting her out onto the roof. Toy has a special place in my heart, ever since Shooter and I had found her trying to pick Artemis' pocket, instead of Artemis trying to pick hers. Toy sat beside me, putting her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees.

"There's gonna be a big fight, isn't there?" she asked me, her blue eyes wide and filled with fear.

I nodded. "Yeah, there is, but don't worry, I'll make sure that you stay safe. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Good. Oh, and there's a really pretty lady downstairs to see you. She told me her name, but, ummm, I don't remember what it is. Artemis sent me up here to tell you," Toy said suddenly, as if she just remembered what she came up here to do, which is probably the case.

"Thanks Toy. Come on," I told her and I held out my hand for her to take. We went down the stairs together and I saw most of the newsies inside, either talking or playing card games. I spotted Rose, who looked very out of place, and walked over to her. "Hi. I'm glad to see that you could visit. I just hafta tell my newsies a few things, than I should be free for a few minutes." Rose smiled and nodded her head. I led her to a chair and she sat down, while she waited for me to start my speech. I climbed onto the staircase and yelled into the throng of newsies.

"All right Brooklyn, listen up. About an hour ago, I had an unpleasant visitor from West Side. It was Bear." I heard the crowd murmur, but kept going with my speech, knowing that they would listen. "We have to be on our very best guard. I want guards on all the corners of the blocks, at all hours of the day. If any of you so much as see a strange person lurking around, I want to be told about it. Immediately. And my Birds… well, you know what to do. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I want all the newsies under 11 in the lodging house as soon as they're done selling, and I never want anyone to be alone. Always carry your slingshots with you, and always be on your guard. Artemis will tell you who is to be on guard and where. That's it." I handed the stairs over to Artemis, who was giving out the guard spots with her usual practicality.

Rose stood up as I walked towards her. "Spot, did something go wrong today?" she asked, her voice quiet and concerned.

"Here, why don't we go out on the roof where we can talk in peace?" I asked her, and I led her up the stairs to my room. We climbed through the window and sat down, and I told her about the days events.

"Wow, it seems like you've got a lot on your mind," Rose told me. "Maybe I should leave and," but she was cut off by someone rushing into my room. It was Sparrow, who had been one of the guards.

"Spot, looks like the West Side is more organized than we thought. They're here, now!" Sparrow told me.

"Ah, shit," I said, grabbing Rose's hand and leading her back into my room. "Look, Rose, I'm gonna send some of the younger kids up here to stay with you. Whatever happens, don't leave my room. Do you understand?"

Rose nodded and smiled at me, reassuring me. "Spot, everything will be fine. I'll look after the young ones, now go. You have a borough and people to protect."

I started to turn away, but Rose called after me. "One more thing Spot," she said, and she walked over to me. She stood on her tip toes and gave me a kiss. "Good luck and be safe."

I nodded and Sparrow and I left.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Brooklyn and the West Side both fought hard, but we were victorious in the end. We drove West Side out of our territory with promises to kill them if they ever stepped foot in Brooklyn again. Shooter ran over to me, a bruise blossoming on her tan face.

"We did it Spot, we beat them!" she cried in joy.

I smirked and wiped the blood off of my face. "Why would you ever doubt me, Shooter?" I left the streets and went back to the lodging house where Rose and the little ones were.

"And that's the story of Tir Na Nog," I heard Rose say as I walked into my room. Most of the little ones were sleeping, and I carried them all to their own beds.

"Thanks for staying with them, but I should probably get you home. Your parents are probably really worried," I told her.

She smiled sadly. "No, no parents, just my two older sisters and me. But I should get home all the same." We walked down the stairs and out into the streets in silence.

I turned to Artemis and said, "Make sure everyone gets inside okay and recruit some people to help you with the newsies who are hurt. I'll be back in a bit." Artemis nodded and went to do her job, and Rose and I walked towards our destination.

"Good night, Rose," I said as we arrived at her front door. I gave her a small kiss, and went to turn away, but she pulled me in for another. We broke away and I smiled.

"Good night Spot," she said and walked into the house, leaving me to collect my thoughts and feelings on the way back.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Aww, Gramma and Grampa are so cute!" Zannie gushed after reading Spot's entry. She went to put the book down, but a paper fell out of the pages. Zannie picked it up and carefully unfolded it. A beautiful young Rose stared out at her from the confines of the paper and at the bottom was a signature.

"Aiden Conlon, November 5, 1887," Zannie read aloud. "Wow, Grampa was an artist. I should really get some of his sketches framed." She stood up and stretched, touching the key about her neck. "I'll bring some of this stuff to work tomorrow," she thought to herself as she walked to the kitchen to get something to eat.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Okay… OW! My hands are now all carpo tunnel-y, but I typed a really long chapter, so I expect reviews! I hope you guys liked it! (Huggles Toy!muse) I love my muse! Anyway, please read and review! Thanks!

Dreamer


	5. Chapter 5

Hey all, I'm updating… again! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I don't have any of these chapters written out beforehand, I just kind of have my ideas about where I want the story to go. Anyways, thanks for all the great reviews from my ever-faithful reviewers!

C.M. Higgins

Daydream

Buttons14

Ccatt

SmartassLeprechaun

Shooter O'Brien

Sparks Kelly

Bookey Elliot

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, or Smartass, Cat, Artemis, or Shooter. Today's chapter brought to you by Rice Chex Cereal, Artist!Spot, and the band Weezer.

"Aiden Conlon, November 5, 1887," Zannie read aloud. "Wow, Grampa was an artist. I should really get some of his sketches framed." She stood up and stretched, touching the key about her neck. "I'll bring some of this stuff to work tomorrow," she thought to herself as she walked to the kitchen to get something to eat.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie woke bright and early the next day, due to the fact that her alarm clock was beeping incessantly and she was too tired to hit the snooze button 50 times. "Ugh, once again, way too early! Why does the museum that I just happen to work at open at 7:00, instead of the normal 10:00?" she asked herself as she slid out of bed and walked towards the bathroom, her plaid pajama bottoms dragging on the ground.

Once she was ready, Zannie ran downstairs to the living room and collected the items that from the trunk that she wanted to take to work with her. She looked at her watch after safely packing the things in her bag. "Shit! I'm gonna miss my train!" Zannie frantically ran about, collecting her things, grabbing a breakfast bar, and bolted out of the front door.

She got to the platform just in time to see the doors to her train start to close, and she made a mad dash for it. Zannie got onto the train, almost getting stuck in the doors, but she made it.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

During her lunch break, Zannie sat down next to one of the museums oldest employees. His name was Joe, and he was a very intelligent person.

"Hey Joe," Zannie said, "I have some old pictures and stuff that I would like you to look at. Now, I know that they're not really old, or anything, but I thought maybe you could tell me something about them."

Joe nodded at her and told her to take a seat, his voice soft and kind. Zannie took the items that she had chosen out of her bag and laid them out on the table for Joe to look at. Joe picked up one of the journals and read the name on the cover.

"Zannie, dear girl, do you know who this person is?" Joe asked, his voice quivering with excitement.

Zannie nodded. "Yes, this man is, well, was my grandfather. Here's a picture of him and my grandma on their wedding day," she told the old man as she handed over the picture.

"Not only that, young lady, but he was the best leader that the newsies of Brooklyn had ever had. My father was a newsie for Queens at the very same time that Spot Conlon was leading the Brooklynites."

"Really? Wow, that's so cool! So your father probably knew Spot Conlon, my grandfather," Zannie said, glad to have found someone who knew more about this than she did.

Joe smiled. "Yes, my father had met Spot Conlon once or twice, and he always talked about what a great man Spot was. He was devastated to learn how Conlon died though."

Zannie's smile faltered a bit. "Umm, how did he die?"

"He tried to break up a street fight between two teenagers. One of them had a gun and shot your grandfather, not knowing who he was. It said in the paper that my father kept that Conlon had been shot in the chest, but survived. I'm sure that he died from the wound getting infected. That was very common back then."

Zannie shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Thanks for the information Joe. I really appreciate it." Joe nodded his head again and continued to eat his lunch, while Zannie picked up one of the journals and tried to rid her mind of the horrible images of her grandfather dying.

xxxxxxxxxxx

May 4, 1887

Well, today has just about been one of the worst days I've ever had in my entire life. Everything went wrong. First of all, it was raining. Now, I love the rain, don't get me wrong, but it makes for horrible selling conditions. Only the most experienced newsies were out today, trying to sell their papes to vendors and such, but the rain wasn't my biggest problem.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I looked out my window at the pouring rain as I pulled my boots on. "Just wonderful. I have to try and sell in the fucking rain!" I grumbled and cussed a bit more, cursing the rain, and newspapers, and just about everything. I don't mind the rain, but I was in a foul mood when I woke up, so this just happened to make my mood worse. I went to the hook where I kept my hat, but for some reason, it wasn't there today. I snooped around for a bit, and tried to find it, but I came up with nothing. "Fuck! Where the hell is my God forsaken, piece of crap hat!" I yelled viciously, throwing what was left of my breakfast across the room at the offending wall. I must have been making a lot of noise and scaring quite a few people, because someone knocked on my door.

I went over and slammed the door open. It was Artemis, looking worried and holding my stupid hat. "Uh, Spot, you left this downstairs last night," she told me, smiling meekly and handing my hat over. I snatched it out of her hands, mumbling a thank you. She nodded in response. "I'll get one of the girls to clean this up while you're out," she told me pointing to the oatmeal and bits of glass lying about on my bedroom wall and floor.

"Just make sure that they don't touch anything else," I said to Artemis, as I walked out of my room, down the stairs, and out into the pouring rain.

I ran to the D.O. just to wake myself up a little bit, and I bought fifty papes, about half of what I usually bought.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, the rain is still coming down in sheets, and I still have about 25 papers left. I went into a small café, hoping that I could sell my papers in there. I got lucky. A few people were willing to buy, but just as I was about to hand some change back to one of my customers, one of my newsies came charging into the café.

I quickly handed the person his change and turned around to look at who the newsie was. It was one of my most trusted newsies.

"Sunny, what's up?" I asked, knowing something was wrong by the look on Sunny's face. Usually Sunny would be smiling, or laughing, but today he was upset.

"Spot, you, well, you just have to come and see. I can't tell you here," he said to me, his Swedish accent coming out all the more because he was upset. I didn't ask any more questions, but I bolted out the door, Sunny following close behind, still carrying a few soaking wet papers in his arms.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I got to the Lodging House in record time, Sunny coming up a few seconds later. "What? What happened?" I asked frantically. Sunny didn't answer, he just motioned for me to follow him into the house, which I did. We rushed up the stairs and I followed him into the sick room. The sick room is never a good sign.

I saw a whole bunch of my newsies, including Artemis, who had stayed behind today to make sure everyone was safe, gathered around one of the beds. "Let me through," I said quietly, making my way towards the bed. I walked through the space that everyone had cleared for me, when I felt someone slip their hand into mine. It was Toy, and she was crying.

"Spot, I'm scared. Why?" she asked. I shook my head, my concentration still on the bed in front of me. There was a lump covered with the sheets, and I was totally scared as to what I would find if I pulled the covers back, but I did so anyway. And what I saw took my breath away.

It was Crow, one of my best newsies, one of my birds, and he was mangled and torn apart almost beyond recognition. He was blue, and not breathing, so I knew that he was dead. I turned away, covering Crow back up with the sheets.

"Who found him?" I asked, my voice quiet and deadly. Everyone looked at Sparrow, and he, in turn, looked at me.

"I did, Spot. I was selling in my normal place by the docks when I saw a body floating in the water. I didn't know it was Crow till I fished him out," Sparrow said, his voice breaking at the end. I looked at Sparrow, who was fighting to hide his emotions.

I gripped his shoulder and said, "You done good, kid, you done good." Sparrow nodded his head and turned away, walking out of the room. "As for the rest of you, I want you to go back to what you were doing, everyone except Artemis, Sunny, and Tie. I want to talk to you three."

Everyone started to leave, and I heard a few of the girls sniffle, like they had been crying, which they probably were. It was then that I remembered Toy.

"Toy, can you come here please?" I yelled to the leaving newsies, and Toy came in, still crying and wiping her face on the sleeve of her shirt. I bent down to look her in the eyes. "Don't worry Toy, I'll protect you, just like I said I would. Nothing bad will happen to you. You have my word, as a Conlon and a newsie." Toy looked relieved and turned around to leave, but she decided against that and ran back to me, putting her small arms about my waist. I was startled to say the least, but before I could do anything, Toy let go and ran back out into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

"Well," I said, turning back to the three newsies who stood in the room with me, "I asked you three to stay because you knew Crow best. Did he have any family, any loose ends, anything?"

Sunny spoke up. "He didn't have any family, but he had a girlfriend. I think her name is Julie." Artemis shook her head.

"No it's not Julie, it's Julia. She lives in Queens." I looked at Artemis, who was humming to herself, something that she did when she was upset.

"Do you know Julia?" I asked her.

She nodded her head. "I know her a little bit, but not too well."

"Okay, well, do you know her?" I said, looking pointedly a Sunny and Tie.

Tie shook his head, his black shaggy hair swinging with the motion. "I don't know her, and Sunny doesn't either."

"Well, Artemis. You go to Queens and find Julia. Tell her what happened. Sunny, Tie, you can help me dig a grave for Crow in back of this building."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Tie, Sunny, and I finished the grave a while ago and I am now in my room, trying to sketch Crow from memory. I put my sketch on my bed and look up at the ceiling. "West Side is gonna fucking pay. They should have never messed with Spot Conlon," I said, determined to avenge Crow.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie shut the journal, noticing that everyone had left the cafeteria, and that she was there, by herself. She stood up, dumping her garbage into the trash can and walked back to here she worked at the front desk. When she got there, she picked up the phone, calling Smartass at her job.

"Hello, you've called the Barnes and Noble in downtown Manhattan, how may I help you?

"Smartass, it's Zannie. I want to get together with you and Cat tonight. Can you call Cat after work and tell her?" Zannie asked.

"Sure, but what did you find out?" Smartass wondered.

"A lot, but I have to go, I'll see you at 8:00, okay?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Okay… well there's another chapter done. (Artist!Spot muse is yelling at me again)

Spot: You're not supposed to let anyone see my sensitive side, you idiot!

Me: I can do whatever I want, since I'm the one writing this story.

Spot: (Grabs the keyboard) not anymore! Hahahahahaha!!

Me: (knocks Spot out with a bottle of wine and drags him to my closet) Anyway, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey… I'M BACK!!!!!! Again. For the Sixth time… anyway! I'm so glad you all liked the last chapter! It really makes my day to read all these great reviews. (Spot snickers in the background)

Me: What are you laughing at?

Spot: (Still laughing) You and your babbling… it makes a little kid's whining sound like music to me ears.

Me: Remember the last time you got me mad? You ended up in the closet for two days with a bump on your head the size of Texas!

Spot: ………

Me: Yeah, that's what I thought. Now let me do my shout-outs to all my wonderful reviewers in peace.

Spot: Fine.

C.M. Higgins: I'm glad you liked the chapter and my character Joe. Joe's cool!

Daydream1: Thanks for the great compliments. West side is going to pay… Dun Dun DUN!!!

Shooter O'Brien: thanks for the great review!

Ccatt: Yup, they actually killed someone… Poor Crow. Thanks for the review.

Sparks Kelly: Oh, wow, I rock? That is SO cool!

Spot: Don't make her head bigger than it already is!

Me: Shhhhhhhhh! Remember the closet?

Spot: Meep.

Anyway, yeah, West Side is gonna pay. Spot's gonna kick their asses!

Spot: hell yeah!

Buttons14: Yeah, I love Joe… he's so cool. Thanks for reviewing!

Bookey Elliot: Wow, are you really highly recommending my story to others?! Thank you! I feel so loved! (mentally huggles Bookey) Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, or Smartass, Cat, Artemis, or Shooter. Today's chapter was brought to you by Dr.Pepper and Linkin Park.

"Hello, you've called the Barnes and Noble in downtown Manhattan, how may I help you?

"Smartass, it's Zannie. I want to get together with you and Cat tonight. Can you call Cat after work and tell her?" Zannie asked.

"Sure, but what did you find out?" Smartass wondered.

"A lot, but I have to go; I'll see you at 8:00, okay?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie took it easy the rest of her work day, the museum's business was pretty slow. She got home around 5:00, something that was rarely accomplished. She sat down in her living room, staring at the sketch that Spot had done of her grandmother. The sketch was beautiful. It captured the sparkle in young Rose's eyes, and every detail of her face had been drawn perfectly.

"Wow, this really is a great piece of art. I wish Spot had been around long enough to show me," Zannie sighed to herself. She played with the key around her neck. Zannie had finally taken it off of the old string, and put the key on a chain. She looked at the sketch again, laying her head down on the armrest of the couch as she did so. She drifted slowly off to sleep, but before she did, Zannie said aloud, "I wonder what this is for?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

A few knocks on the door finally brought Zannie out of her doze. She got up off the couch, her slippers padding the hard wood floors softly, and her sweatpants dragging on the ground. She let Smartass and Cat in.

"Zannie, what did you find out? I mean, was it something horrible?" Cat asked, mildly concerned.

"Yeah, what gives? You called me up at work, and I thought that you were dying, you sounded so upset," Smartass said, receiving a smack on the arm from Cat.

Zannie shook her head, smiling a little at her two friends. "I found out how Spot died. He was shot while trying to break up a street fight between two boys. Someone at my work, Joe, told me that his father had known Spot. He said that Spot had probably died from an infection. It was really common back then."

Smartass whistled. "That's one bloody mess, that is."

Cat sighed and said, "That's horrible."

Zannie nodded. "Come on, I'll read some more of the journals," she told her friends, and they all sat down together in the living room, curious to find out what happened next.

xxxxxxxxxxx

May 8, 1887

Well, it's been four days since the murder of Crow, and I've had guards posted all day and night, but West Side hasn't shown their ugly mugs in Brooklyn again. I have a plan to defeat them, once and for all, but I don't know how everyone will react to it.

xxxxxxxxxx

When someone knocked on my door this morning to see if I was awake, I barely even heard it. I had been awake all night, thinking about my plan. I had told myself that it was crazy, and that none of the other guys would go for it, but it might be the only chance I get to get revenge on those West Side fuckers. The knock on the door came again, this time louder, and more rapidly, and it was suddenly accompanied by a voice.

"Spot? Spot, you awake?" the voice said. I recognized it and realized that it belonged to Tie. Another voice cut through Tie's.

"Spot, let us in. Are you okay?" It was Shooter. I yelled for both of them to come in and Tie opened the door and slid into my room, Shooter following him.

I looked at Tie, who looked back at me a little nervously. "I have a plan to get back at those shits from West Side," I told him, my voice calm and steady.

Tie nodded. "Okay Spot, what's the plan?"

I started to explain, my voice strong. "We'll just go into West Side and capture Knuckles."

Shooter snorted. "And how the hell do you expect us to do this with out being killed?"

I sighed. I had known that people would be skeptical, but I would just have to use my powers of persuasion a little more. "Shooter, Tie, I have more connections in this city than you two would know what to do with. This will be easier than you both think, trust me. I'll have one of my best newsies, who's not very well known by other bouroughs, go in and become a newsie for West Side. They would be perfectly safe; I would have my birds watching at all times. Once the newsie gets on Knuckles' good side, we'll get the dirt on him. Where he goes, what he does, every day of every week. Everyone has some sort of routine. People like to do the same things at the same time; it's like a comfort, or something. We'll catch Knuckles off guard, doing something that he doesn't expect us to know about. It's a good plan."

Shooter nodded her head. "It is a good plan, and I know that you would never put one of your newsies in danger if you didn't think that they would be able to pull it off. I say we go for it… I mean, what other options do we have?" She turned to look at Tie, who still looked a little concerned.

"Okay, if we decide to do this, than who would the newsie be? I mean, who's smart, strong, quiet, and can take care of themselves? Who doesn't like spending time with others?" He shook his head, his blue eyes burning with questions. "It's hard to find a newsie like that." He paused for a moment, thinking. Shooter and I were both staring at him, our eyes fixed on his face. "Oh shit, I just described myself, didn't I?"

Shooter grinned at him and clapped his back. "Come on Tie, let's go play some poker. I mean, it might be your last game for a while." Tie shook his head and they both started to walk away, but I called them back.

"Tie, are you willing to do this?" I asked.

Tie looked me straight in the eyes, something many people find very hard to do and answered me. "Spot, if I can do anything to help avenge Crow's death, than I will. You don't need to ask me twice." I nodded, happy with his response.

"Good. We'll get you to West Side tomorrow. Spend today resting and planning, because you're gonna need all your wits about you this late in the game," I told him, and he nodded and left my room, leaving a dumbfounded Shooter in his place.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I decided to skip selling today in order to go see Rose. I walked to her house with a heavy heart and a heavy head. As I knocked on the door, I wondered to myself why I was doing this. Not just knocking on her door, but sending Tie into West Side, being the leader of Brooklyn. A voice knocked me out of my thoughts.

"Uh, may I help you?" a girl, who looked a little bit like Rose, asked. She was dressed in a dark red dress, which looked like an older style, but it had been well taken care of. What really got me were her eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue tinted glasses and behind the lenses her eyes looked empty, devoid of life. She was blind.

"Yes, miss, I'm looking for Rose. Is she home, by any chance?" I asked, but before the girl could answer a voice rang from inside the house.

"Mary, who is it? Are you alright?" The voice belonged to Rose.

"Yes, I'm fine Rose, but someone is here to see you. A young man," Mary answered her. Rose came to the door, smiling when she got there.

"Spot, I'm so glad that you came to visit. I was getting a little worried about you."

I smiled. "Actually, Rose, I was wondering if you would like to come on a walk with me today. I have some things that I, well, just some things that I need to get off my back, so to speak. I mean, that is, if you don't have anything else planned," I told her.

"Of course I'll take a walk with you. Just let me get my hat and I'll be right out." Rose ran back inside to get her hat, and I stood on the front porch next to Mary.

"So, you're the boy that Rose has been talking about. Let me ask you a question. What kind of a name is Spot?"

"Mary, how dare you ask him such a thing!" Rose had come back and was standing in the door way, holding her hat and looking upset.

I smiled at her. "It's okay, Rose. I like your sister. She's got moxie. Actually Mary, my name's Aiden, but don't run around telling everybody that. I hope you don't mind me taking your sister to Central Park for a little bit."

Mary smiled. "No, I don't mind. Be back for dinner Rose," and with that said, she waved goodbye and walked into the house.

Rose and I walked in silence for a little bit.

"So, Aiden, what did you want to talk to me about?" Rose smiled as she said this, using my real name instead of my nickname. I normally didn't like it when people called me by my given name, but it sounded nice when Rose said it.

"Well, it's a really long story," I told her, having second thoughts about ever wanting to tell her about my troubles in the first place.

Rose laughed and her blue eyes sparkled merrily. "Well, we have a long walk, so why don't you tell me all about it?"

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Wow, Spot, that's awful. I can't believe that someone would kill one of your newsies. How come I didn't read about it in the paper? I always buy from you or one of your boys," Rose said when I was done pouring out all my troubles.

"The reason you didn't read about Crow in the newspaper was because I didn't tell the bulls about it. They don't care if some street rat dies; it happens everyday, nothing new to them. I want to settle this fight by myself, and I don't want the authorities involved." I glanced around, making sure no one could hear us. I was beginning to get a little paranoid, thinking that West Side may have sent someone to watch me, just like I planned on doing to them.

"Well, you seem to know what you're doing, even if it does seem a bit dangerous," Rose told me.

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm just glad I've got someone to talk to about it." I leaned over to Rose and gave her a kiss. "Come on, let's get you home before Mary gets mad. I need to get back to the Lodging House anyway."

We got back to Rose's house and said our good-bye's. Rose kissed me again and turned to go inside, but I pulled her back out on to the front porch to tell her something.

"Rose, I want you to be extra careful when you go out now. I don't want anything happening to you or your sister's, got that? You never know what those guys from West Side are gonna do," I said to her.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Thanks for worrying though," and with that said, she gave me another kiss and walked into her house, shutting the door behind her.

"I just don't want to see you hurt," I told the empty space in front of me. I finally sighed and turned around, keeping my cane in my hands and my slingshot in my belt, just in case.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Whoa, okay, this is startin to get a little too serious for my head to take," Smartass said as soon as Zannie finished reading. "Something bad happened, I can feel it, but it's past midnight. We should all get some sleep and figure the rest of this out in the morning."

"Yeah, right now I feel like I walked straight into the past and I'm about to get killed by one of the West Siders," Cat said, shivering at the thought.

Zannie put the journal down on the coffee table. "Well, are you two staying over, or what?"

Smartass and Cat looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah, we like to raid your kitchen and use up all your soap," Smartass told her, while getting comfortable on the couch.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Okay…. You people know what to do! You're smart, so I know that you can figure it out. I hope you like the chapter. Oh, and tomorrow I'm getting my teeth pulled, so I might be able to update, but I might not. And with school starting soon, the updates will be less frequent, but I will try to update whenever I can! Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7

Hola everyone! Sorry I haven't been up to my updating standards, but I've been really busy lately. Anyway, I'm writing the 7th chapter of the Trunk right now, obviously. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Buttons14: I really am glad that you like this story. Thanks for reviewing!

C.M. Higgins: I'm glad that you like Spot's real name… Aiden is my cousin's name.

SmartassLeprechaun: (For 5 and 6) Hmm, I may be doing a bit of foreshadowing… we'll see. And yes, Tie really is one of the best guys ever! I think I'm falling in love with one of my original characters! Hehehehe!

Sparks Kelly: Spot is brilliant, and we have come to an agreement, so we aren't mean to each other anymore… well, at least not all the time. And thanks for the good luck with my teeth… I had to eat like, jello for two days.

Ccatt: Yeah, sleepovers rock! And yes, when I re-read the chapter for any errors, even I laughed when Tie described himself. I thought it was funny.

Spot: Yeah, she's easily amused… but I love her anyway!

Me: Yay, I'm loved!

Shooter O'Brien: Glad you like the chapter… To answer your question, the only characters that are from the CC are Smartass, Cat, Artemis, and Shooter. The rest are my own creations. If you ever want to use them for a story, leave it in a review or email me, because I'll be happy to lend them to you. I start school on September 2… I'll be a junior. Good luck with your senior year.

Daydream: I hope that your computer gets fixed. I'm glad that you liked the chapter. Here's some more!

koodles4you: it's okay that you haven't reviewed… Computers are stupid. I'm so glad that you like the story. I have to say, I wasn't expecting so many people to review!

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!!!! Well, unless it is mine…. But, uh, yeah! Today's chapter brought to you by Green Day, Blur, and Mac and Cheese…. It's one of the only things that I can cook!

"Yeah, right now I feel like I walked straight into the past and I'm about to get killed by one of the West Siders," Cat said, shivering at the thought.

Zannie put the journal down on the coffee table. "Well, are you two staying over, or what?"

Smartass and Cat looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah, we like to raid your kitchen and use up all your soap," Smartass told her, while getting comfortable on the couch.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie was sleeping peacefully on her bed, the blue comforter pulled over her head. Two figures loomed over her.

"Smartass, are you gonna wake her up or me? I don't want to do it, she gets scary in the morning. And when she finds out that we really did use all of her shampoo, she's gonna be even worse!" Cat moaned quietly.

"We'll do rock, paper, scissors to see who will wake her up," Smartass said to Cat. "Ready? Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Cat ended up with rock and Smartass had scissors.

"Haha, rock crushes scissors, you have to wake her up!" Cat consoled herself by smashing her fist over Smartass' scissors and gleefully ran out of the room.

"Well, we'll just do this the easy way, shall we?" Smartass said to no one in particular as she rounded on Zannie's bed and flipped the mattress over. Zannie sat up with a shriek and a few choice curses aimed at Smartass.

"Yeah, yeah, your Highness, now get up. Cat and I are bored, we need something to do," Smartass told the girl.

"Ooh, I have something we can do!" Zannie exclaimed, all qualms about being woken up pushed aside. "You can help me look through all of Spot's journals to help me figure out what this key is for."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Three hours later, all three girls were sitting in the living room, Spot's journals open and surrounding them in a semi circle.

"Well, Zannie, there just doesn't seem to be any information about that key. He acknowledges that he has it, but he doesn't say what it's for," Cat sighed, putting the last of the journals down on the ground.

"Damn. I was sure that I would find something about it in one of these. Oh well, I guess we'll just continue reading the saga of Spot's life then. Even though I would love to know what this is for," Zannie said out loud, but she was really just talking to herself. The girls settled down with bowls of popcorn, chips, and any other snack food imaginable, and Zannie started to read aloud.

xxxxxxxxxxx

May 11, 1887

I decided to delay Tie's departure into West Side for a few days, just so that him and me could discuss a few things and plan out what was going to happen. I don't want anything to happen to him. I'm not always the cold-hearted bastard that people say I am

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Tie, are you positive that you want to do this? I don't want to push you into anything that you don't think you can handle," I told the flustered looking Tie.

"Look Spot, I'll be fine. I want to avenge Crow just as much as you do, so stop asking me dumb questions like that!" Tie yelled. A few people looked in our direction, scared as to how I might react to Tie yelling at me. I usually got really pissed when someone didn't respect me, but I let it go today. Tie is one of my best newsies, and a good kid. He usually doesn't say much, but he's smart, and I know that he's under a lot of stress right now.

I shook my head. "Alright kid, I was just checking to make sure. The birds will follow you during the day, so if you get into any trouble, they'll help you out. Don't think that you can't come back if things get too rough, cause you can. And I know you can take care of yourself," I added, because Tie had opened his mouth to say something. He smiled just a little bit.

"Actually, I was just going to say thanks, Spot. I'll be fine, don't worry." Tie bent over to pick up the small bag of his belongings. When he stood back up, the smile was gone from his face. He was just plain normal Tie, black shaggy, blue eyes, and a heart of gold.

I clapped Tie on the back. "Good luck kid, we'll be routing for you." Some of the other newsies waved good-bye, and some of them gave him hugs. A chorus of 'good-bye's and 'good luck's sounded from inside the lodging house. As soon as I could no longer see Tie's back going down the road, I signaled to my Birds to follow him. They left and everyone started going about their normal business.

"Nobody leave yet. I need to talk to all of you," I shouted, my voice clear and strong once again. I still had a borough and kids to take care of, so I had to make sure that they all made it as easy for me as possible. As soon as everyone had gathered around, I started my speech.

"We still have to be as alert as we possibly can. All the rules that I told you about the other night, they all still apply. No one can go out alone. All newsies under the age of 11 inside the Lodging House after their done selling. You should all know these, because I don't like to repeat myself. We'll still have guards, and since some of my Birds are still here, they'll be hanging around, watching. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. Not after Crow."

There was a general murmur in the crowd. No one had mentioned Crow since we had found him. I heard Sunny cough in the background, but I knew that he was just trying to cover up the sadness. Him and Crow had been good friends for four years before this had happened.

I didn't even try to quiet everyone down, but rather I got up and went to my room, leaving my boys to their own devices.

Maybe twenty minutes into my 'think time' I was disturbed by a knock on my door. "Leave it to the boys of Brooklyn to disturb me at the worst time possible," I whispered to myself and then said, "The door's open, come in," though it may have been said through gritted teeth. I waited for the door to open and for one of my boys to come in, but when the door actually did open, I saw Toy standing there.

She had a blanket in her hand and a white nightgown on. Her dark curls were hanging in her face. "Spot, I can't get to sleep. I'm too scared, I don't know why, but…" she trailed off, putting her thumb in her mouth. I sighed and looked at my pocket watch. It was fast approaching the late hours of the night and I assumed that almost everyone was in bed, or sleeping. I put my pocket watch back on my dresser and looked at Toy again. She didn't look like the tough little girl newsie that she usually did, but she looked like a scared five year old.

"Come here," I told her, motioning for her to come onto the bed with me. She hurriedly ran towards me and hopped up onto the bed, snuggling down into the blankets. I could feel her little heart beating as I blew the candles out and lay down next to her. She put her thumb back in her mouth and ran her free hand through my hair.

The words that she said next were a little garbled, because of the thumb in her mouth, but I could still understand what she was saying. "Wuv you Spot." And she lay her head down, falling asleep quickly.

I stayed awake for a long time after she said that, contemplating what those words meant to me. No one had ever said that to me, nor had I ever said it to them. And for some reason, I cared more about what this little girl thought about me than anyone else did.

I was about to fall asleep after thinking so long, but something kept me awake. Something just didn't feel right. I got out of my bed as quietly and quickly as I could, grabbed my cigarettes, and went out on the roof to have a smoke. I was half way done with my cigarette when I heard shouting down in the streets. I looked about, trying to see what was the source of the noise, and than I saw it. One of my guards had captured a West Sider. I ran down the fire escape as fast as I could, the cool air stinging my bare chest.

"Spot, Spot, I caught this little shit trying to make his way into our territory," yelled Pan, one of my boys. The boy from West Side was wearing a hat and I couldn't see his face.

"What's your name?" I asked coldly, practically spitting out the words. The boy just spit in my direction and tried to get out of Pan's hold. I grabbed the kid by the shirt and Pan let go, going back to his post and leaving me to deal with the mystery boy.

"I won't ask you again after this," I snarled, getting angry. "What's your name?" The boy struggled in my hands and managed to stomp on my foot. It hurt like Hell, but I didn't flinch, so I think that I surprised the boy. He finally decided to grace me with an answer.

"Charley, "he said.

"Well Charley, what were you doing in my territory, huh?" I yelled. I was starting to get angry, so when the kid didn't answer me right away, I flung him down onto the cobblestones. Hard. He landed on his back and his hat had fallen off. What I saw next startled me. The boy who had said his name was Charley wasn't a boy at all, but a girl. A girl with long blonde hair. A female spy. Not only that, but when I searched her pockets, I found out that she had a gun. She wasn't a spy, she was an assassin.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Okay, ummm, holy shit," Smartass murmured. "West Side is starting to play dirty; sending over female spy assassin people is playing dirty."

Zannie shivered. "I think I have to agree with you on that one. Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn, or whatever the hell that saying is. All I know is that female assassins are more dangerous than males, cause they're smarter and more cunning."

Cat shifted uneasily and ate some more popcorn. "I say we take a break from all this creepy territory stuff. Let's watch a movie or something." All of the girls agreed to take a break and they sat down in front of the television to watch a chick flick that had nothing to do with killing or spying or wars.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Review!!!! Spot will come over to your house and cook for you if you do!

Spot: Uh, I don't know how to cook.

Me: Well, you do now!

Spot: Crap!

Hope you like the chapter!

Dreamer


	8. Chapter 8

I'm back!!! Yeah, I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been really busy with school and marching band and everything. The past week has been uber crazy. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Sparks Kelly: Yeah, the West Siders are a sneaky bunch of people, but Spot's smarter and sneakier than they are.

Spot: Damn straight I am. No one beats me, I'm the best!

Right. Anyway, I'm glad you love Toy, cause she's my cute little creation! :)

Ccatt: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Female assassins are cool! Ahem, yeah, anyway, I hope you like this chapter.

Buttons14: I had to put the waking Zannie up bit in my story. It was just too good to pass up.

SmartassLeprechaun: Toy and Spot are cute. 'cowers as Spot gives me evil look' Anyway, yeah, falling in love with OC's happens to me all the time… only, not. But anyway, I hope you like the chapter!

Shooter O'Brien: I hope Spot cooked something good for you. West Side is evil, but you'll see what will happen to the spy. Thanks for the good luck with school, the same goes to you with your dream college.

C.M. Higgins: I'm glad you like this story and I know that school tends to distract people. I mean, look at me! I'm glad you like Toy. Thanks for reviewing!

koodles4you: I hope Spot made it to your house to cook. I'm glad the chapter kept you on your toes! :)

Daydream: Yay! My longest review ever. Sorry, Spot can be a little touchy at times, but I hope that your drapes are okay.

Spot: Hey, I didn't do it! Or, well, I didn't mean to do it. Anyway, it was Race's fault, he distracted me.

Race: I did not, you're just a stupid shortie who can't cook… or play poker.

Spot: That's it! You're dead Higgins, dead! 'chases around after Race with his cane'

Alrighty then. Oh, and I hope that Jackal's hair is okay. Anyway, I'm glad that you liked the chapter and here's another one for ya!

Disclaimer: Okay, this is STILL NOT mine… except for the idea and some of the characters, but that's beside the point. Today's chapter brought to you by Tootsie Rolls and Sublime.

Cat shifted uneasily and ate some more popcorn. "I say we take a break from all this creepy territory stuff. Let's watch a movie or something." All of the girls agreed to take a break and they sat down in front of the television to watch a chick flick that had nothing to do with killing or spying or wars.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"That was a good movie, but now I'm hungry," Smartass said as Zannie turned the television off. Zannie whirled around, a shocked expression on her face.

"Dude, Smartass, we just ate a whole bunch of crappy junk food that fills you up fast, but has no nutritional value. How can you be hungry?" whined Zannie.

"I want real food. And I'm just hungry. I don't know how or why, I just am," Smartass said, smirking.

"I can make macaroni and cheese!" Cat said, excited that she may be able to show off her 'cooking skills.'

Zannie smiled. "I think that Mac and cheese is the only food I have left. I really need to go food shopping."

"Yay! I get to cook!" and with that said, Cat jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen to create her masterpiece. Zannie turned to Smartass, who just shrugged her shoulders and grinned.

"Well, while Cat is being a master chef, you and I can read the next journal entry," Zannie said. Smartass agreed and the two girls lay on the floor with the journal and a whole bunch of fluffy pillows.

xxxxxxxxxxx

May 12, 1887

I spent the whole rest of last night and today trying to get the spy to tell me West Side's plan, but she wouldn't budge. I have handled assassins and spies before, but none of them were ever girls, and from what I could get out of this one, she was educated and smart. I tried letting Bumble talk to her, but Bumble ended up with a split lip and a black eye. After that crazy incident, I made sure that I was in the room with 'Charley' at all times. She wouldn't tell any of the girls anything, so I decided to call in one last person.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright kid, I'm only gonna ask you one more time. Who sent you and what are you doing in my territory?" I had tried to be somewhat nice to this girl, but she wouldn't answer me. She seemed like a hardened veteran of this business. All she did was stare at me through her cold honey orbs and continue to sit in the chair. By now the whole Lodging House had heard me yelling and cursing, so they were al up, and I knew that some of them were listening trough the door. It had just started to break daylight, and I had been trying to pump this girl for information all night, but she wouldn't crack.

"Bumble, will come in here please?" I yelled, and the door to the room Charley and I were in immediately opened. Bumble stood in the doorway, her hair pulled back into a braid and a frown on her face.

"What is it Spot?" she asked. 'I have to sell the morning edition soon."

"I know you do, but I need your help. I want you to talk to her. Maybe she'll tell another girl everything instead of me," I said. Bumble sighed and shrugged her shoulders, but stayed in the room.

"I'm gonna leave you two alone to talk things out, but I'll be right outside the door." I walked out shutting the door firmly behind me. Bumble started to talk and continued for maybe another minute or two before I heard screaming and a few thumps. Flinging the door opened, I discovered that Charley had broken out of her bonds and had punched Bumble in the face. Poor Bumble was lying on the ground, her face in her hands.

"Fuck." I rushed over and grabbed Charley, tying her down again, and went over to Bumble. "Bumble, are you alright?"

She shook her head. "Does it look like I'm alright, Spot? This fuckin hurts!" She stood up, rubbing her eye. "I couldn't get her to talk. Sorry Spot."

I sighed. "It's okay. You're gonna have a nice shiner. Thanks for trying." Bumble nodded and she walked out of the room. I rounded on the assassin and smacked her across the back of the head. "What the hell did ya do that for? She wasn't trying to attack you or anything, was she?"

The girl just stared blankly at me. I called in other girls to try and talk to her, and every time was the same, with the exception of the girls getting beat up, because I decided to stay in the room. Charley just wouldn't talk.

By 2:00, I had given up on trying to talk to her and just sat there, staring at her. People usually crack under my gaze, but she didn't falter once. Most of my boys were back from selling the morning edition by now, and I had formed a plan in my head.

"Sunny. Sunny, come here. I need to ask you something," I called downstairs. Sunny came running up, taking the stairs two at a time.

"What is it Spot? What do you need?" Sunny asked, obviously willing to help. Anything to avenge Crow.

"I need you to go and get Rose, my girl. I need her here," I said, telling him where she lived, and also telling him to say that it was urgent. Sunny nodded and was on his way, and once again, I was stuck with the girl-who-wouldn't-talk.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Half an hour later, Rose, me, Sunny, and Charley were all sitting down in the room. Charley was looking at Rose with curiosity. She had noticed that Rose was different than the rest of the girls that I had brought in to talk to her.

"So, what's your name?" Rose asked, the question directed at the girl. She made sure to keep her voice friendly, and had a smile on her face.

Charley pondered before answering Rose. "My name's Charley," she said, and for the first time I noticed that she talked with a strong Irish accent, and it reminded me of my family

Rose nodded enthusiastically. "Wonderful! That's a nice name. Now, why are you here? Who sent you?" Once again, Charley didn't answer right away.

"I was hired," she told us, but she didn't say anything else. I was starting to loose my nerves.

"Well, shit, do you think you can elaborate on that or something?" I asked viciously, but all I got in return was a smack on the arm from Rose.

"Spot, that wasn't very nice. Charley was just about to tell us, weren't you Charley?" Rose said, but she wasn't really asking a question, she was more of giving a command. Finally, Charley's story came spilling out.

"I was hired by the leader of the West Side newsies to come and kill you," she said, looking pointedly at me. "This is my job, I'm an assassin by profession, and I'm one of the best there is. You were just more prepared than I was informed about. That's why I got caught."

Sunny stood up, boiling with rage. "Were you the one who killed Crow? Were you? How can you live with yourself everyday knowing that you kill people for a living?"

Charley looked stunned, losing her cool for the first time since I had sat with her. Sunny had been quiet up until then, and he just always seems like a nice, calm person. She obviously hadn't been expecting something like that to happen.

"Look, I didn't choose this profession, boyo. I was born into it. I didn't have a choice, but I might as well make it worth my while. I get a lot of money for these jobs, and this is the first time I've been caught. And to answer your questions, no, I didn't kill a boy named Crow, and I don't know how I live with myself after killing all the people I have. I can barely sleep at night, knowing what I do for a living. I don't like it, in fact, I hate it. But I'm good at it and people keep coming to me with job offers. Besides, you might want to be thanking me, because a lot of the headlines that are good and that you don't need to improve, a lot of those are because of me. I help you make a living through my job."

Sunny, Rose, and I were stunned into silence by Charley's speech. And I had to admit, all the points she made, especially the one about the headlines, they were all true. "I have an idea, "I said, looking at Rose and Sunny. I leaned in and told them my plan.

"We'll make her a newsie. I'll stay with her at all times. She might actually fall out of her old ways and into new ones if we give her a chance."

Sunny snorted. "Oh, yeah, that's gonna work. Come on Spot, that's a crazy idea!"

Rose shook her head at Sunny. "You heard what she said about hating what she did. She might actually agree to it, but you will have to be extra careful." What Rose said made up my mind. I turned my back on Rose and Sunny and walked over towards Charley.

"Charley, I have a proposition for you. And I think you'll find it one that you can't refuse," I told her, my eyes gleaming dangerously.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Okay, I think that your grandfather was just a little crazy," Smartass remarked through a mouthful of Mac and cheese. Zannie shrugged and took a sip of soda.

"Maybe he was, but he lived long enough to marry Gramma Rose and have three kids, didn't he? His plan must have worked," she said in regard to Smartass' comment.

Cat nodded. "Yeah, I agree. From what we've read so far, Spot seems like a relatively nice person… and he's very protective. That's good, right?" Smartass and Zannie had to agree. Zannie popped some Swedish fish into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, looking at a corner of her room near the closet. After reading half of Spot's journal entry, she, Cat, and Smartass migrated into her bedroom and they were currently eating Mac and cheese and junk food and listening to the radio. She swallowed her candy and walked over to the corner, looking down at the floor boards.

"What are you doing Zannie? Killing a bug or something?" asked Smartass. Zannie shook her head.

"No. These floorboards don't match up with the rest of them," Zannie stated, getting down on her hands and knees. She slipped her fingernail through one of the cracks and tried to pull the board up, but she jammed her finger. Not being deterred, Zannie used the end of her fork to pry the board off of the floor. It came up with a loud pop, and soon after, three other floor boards joined it. There, in Zannie's floor, was a medium sized wooden box with a golden lock.

xxxxxxxxxxx

So…What do you guys think? I wanna know really, really bad! And so does Spot. Oh, he has something to tell all of you.

Spot: No I don't.

Me: Oh yes, you do.

Spot: Oh yeah. Uh, sorry to everyone for making bad dinners. I told you I couldn't cook. Oh, and Daydream, I'm sorry about your kitchen… I hope it's okay, but it was really Race who set it on fire.

Race: No it wasn't. You set it on fire because you didn't know how to work the stove.

Me: Really you two, come on.

Spot: But he really did start it! He set Jackal's hair on fire too!

Race: No I did not. You freaked out when you saw the drapes on fire and pushed Jackal into them… And you still can't play poker.

Me: I guess I better calm them down before they kill each other. Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey!!!!! Oh man, I haven't updated in so long! I have had so much shit to do. It's been crazy… marching band, tech crew, billions of tons of homework, tests, quizzes… I'm surprised that my head hasn't exploded yet. I don't have time to do big shout-outs, but I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of these people!

Sparks Kelly

koodles4you

C.M. Higgins

Buttons14

Ccatt

Daydream1

Shooter O'Brien

Oh, and, yes Shooter, there IS an Irish mafia… they can be just as bad as the Italian mafia.

Race: Eh, the mafia ain't THAT bad…

Me: Uh, yeah they are… but, that doesn't mean that all Italians are bad.

Race: Oh.

Anyway, Disclaimer. Don't own, yadda, yadda. Today's chapter brought to you by the band Beck and mixed berry yogurt… YUM!!

"No. These floorboards don't match up with the rest of them," Zannie stated, getting down on her hands and knees. She slipped her fingernail through one of the cracks and tried to pull the board up, but she jammed her finger. Not being deterred, Zannie used the end of her fork to pry the board off of the floor. It came up with a loud pop, and soon after, three other floor boards joined it. There, in Zannie's floor, was a medium sized wooden box with a golden lock.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The three girls stared at the box, looks of confusion and excitement burned onto their faces. None of them spoke as Zannie lifted the key on the chain from around her neck and fit the teeth of the key into the lock. She turned the golden key twice, and the lock popped open. Hastily pulling the lock off of the box, Zannie slid her fingers under the lid and listened to the defining popping sound the lid made. The girls sat with bated breath, and Zannie slowly opened the box.

Inside were a multitude of items. Old cigars and rolled cigarettes, a few pairs of knickers, a grey cabbie hat, and a plethora of other things filled the girls' eyes. Smartass and Cat now joined Zannie on the floor, their interest in these items at its full peak.

"Holy shit… I know whose stuff this is. It's Spot's. I mean, it has to be. Who the hell else would put a box under this floor?" Zannie said, drawing her friends' attention away from the box and towards herself.

"Wow, this is Spot's stuff? You know, I never would have figured that out on my own," Smartass replied with her usual smirk.

"Awww, shut up Smarty! I wanna see what's inside," Cat said, urging Zannie to take out all of the items. Zannie did so, and soon the girls were surrounded by things of the past, things that still smelt like the lodging house did when Spot was alive.

xxxxxxxxxxx

May 16, 1887

It's been a few days since I suggested to Charley that she become one of my newsies. I had no doubt in my mind that she would be able to take care of herself in Brooklyn. She had quickly gotten to know some of the others, and even though they didn't like her for coming here to kill me, they respected her. She showed some of my boys how to handle their slingshots better, and she even showed some of them how to shoot a gun. Normally, I would that sort of thing, but lately I've been really busy and haven't been able to show the younger newsies any tricks. I hate to say it, but she can also sell about fifty papes per day. That's more than a lot of new newsies can say.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Charley, will you come here for a second?" I called out over the throng of newsies. Charley was no longer an entire mystery to me, but I could tell that the girl just wanted to keep her past to herself. Charley ran over to me, her papers underneath her arm.

"What's up, Spot?" she asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Nothing. I just want you to be on your guard today. I had a few people tell me yesterday that they saw some shady looking people around Brooklyn. They're probably West Siders, lurking around," I said quickly. I needed to sell my papes, and so did Charley.

"Look, boyo, I can take of meself… but thanks for being concerned," Charley said, and she walked away, leaving me to my thoughts.

This girl intrigued me. No one, not even any of my boys, had ever been that forceful when saying something to me. I guess that it was just new to me. I headed out towards my normal selling spot, getting a few customers along the way.

xxxxxxxxxxx

I sold my last paper at about mid-day, so I decided to go over to the races for a little bit. I was actually hoping that I would see Racetrack, one of Jack's boys, and an experienced newsie. I needed to deliver a message to Jack… we needed to have a meeting about West Side. I wanted to see if West Side had been bothering them as much as they had been bothering us. Finally, after a little bit of searching, I spied an Italian looking kid with a cigar in his mouth, yelling for True Blue to go faster.

"Hey Race," I said, startling the boy out of his yelling.

"Oh, heya Spot." Race spit in his hand and held it out for me to take, which I did, after spitting in my own hand. "So, what's up?"

"Has West Side been giving you any trouble lately?" I asked, cutting right to the chase.

Race thought for a moment, than replied. "No more than usual. Why? They been bothering you or something?"

"Yeah, they been bothering some of me boys," I answered, not telling Race about Crow. There are some things that I would rather not have the other boroughs know.

"Well, I'll tell Jack to keep a look out for anything strange," Race said.

"Thanks. Oh, and I'm sending out some of my Birds to ask the other borough leaders if they've been getting bothered by West Side. I'll make sure that someone comes to tell you what's up with them. I might need your help… I don't want you stuck in the dark if I do. Tell Jack that I'll see him at Tibby's later tonight."

"Sure thing Spot. I'll see ya later," Race said, walking away.

After I met up with Race, I went to see how Rose was doing. I was beginning to get more paranoid about people watching her and her sisters.

Knocking on the door, I looked around me, my eyes and ears open to any sights or sounds that seemed out of place. Rose came out, a smile on her face and it warmed my heart up to see her so happy.

"Spot, I'm so happy to see you! Oh, it's been such a wonderful day. Mary got a new pair of glasses to keep more of the light out and she can see a little bit with them on. Oh, and my other sister, Jane, just got a job as a tutor to a rich family's daughters. We'll have so much more income now and everything will be so much easier," Rose looked like she was about to go on, but I stopped her with a small chuckle.

"Slow down. Remember, you do need to breathe to live," I said, and leaning over, I kissed Rose's cheek. "I just wanted to see you for a little bit, to see how you were and everything. I also came to tell you that I sent one of my boys into West Side's territory, and this fight is turning out to be pretty ugly. I want you to look out for yourself, and for your sisters. I don't want any of you getting hurt."

Rose laughed and held onto my hand. "Aiden, you keep telling me that, but I haven't been bothered yet! I don't see what the big deal is, it's just…" she tried to say, but I cut her off.

"Rose it is a big deal. You know that they sent an assassin to kill me, and that they killed Crow. Nothing can happen to you. Do you understand? I can't always be with you to protect you." I looked at Rose, who got a little red in the face and started to frown.

"Well, if you think that I can't protect myself, then why don't you show me how? I know you have other things to do, and your boys and girls to take care of, but maybe when you get the chance…" Rose didn't finish the rest of her statement. I knew what she was trying to say. She wanted to be able to protect herself and her sisters if they ever got into trouble.

"Look, I'll teach you some basics in a little bit, and later we can move on to harder things, but right now I need to talk to you about Charley," I told her, spinning her around and moving inside the house.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Zannie made sure that everything in the box had been taken out and that all the items were laying on the floor before she took a good look at everything. Spot's black cane was there, along with the rest of his things from his childhood.

"Hey Zannie, do you think that maybe this room was Spot's room?" Smartass questioned, while Cat nodded her head.

"I don't know. It probably is but… well. Wait, what wall did he say that he threw the rest of his breakfast at?"

"Uh, it was opposite the window, so that means that it would have been thrown against the wall with the door in it," Cat answered, while Smartass looked threw the notebook.

"Yup, that's where he threw it," Smartass said, agreeing with Cat, and she put the book down on the floor.

Zannie got up and started towards the door, running her hands along the wall. Pretty soon she found what she was looking for. Right in the middle of the wall were quite a few scratches and a few bumps. She hooked her pinky finger into one of the smallest holes and pulled out a tiny fragment of blue ceramic.

"This must have been from the bowl that he threw across the room," Zannie told her friends, her voice quiet. "This was my grandfathers' room."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oh my God! I'm so so so so so so so sorry that it took me so long to update. I've just had so much to do, with school and marching band and tech crew. Everything's just been so hectic. I promise I will try to update whenever I can, but you know how long it took me to get this chapter out, so don't expect wonders on my part. Anyway, Spot wants you to review, and he would tell you himself, but he's busy trying to prove to Race that he really can play poker. (They've been at it for 7 hours now, and I think that Spot still hasn't won a single game.)

Spot: I heard that!

Me: Eeeep! Anyway, Review!

Dreamer


	10. Chapter 10

Holy Shit. I am so sorry for the long wait for this chapter. It's been a crazy few months: I got into a car accident, I've had tons of school work, one of my friends passed away, I've had work (bagel shop). I'm really sorry for the wait you guys. Can you believe that I actually had to go back and re-read what I wrote? It's been that long!

Thank you to:

Buttons14

Sparks Kelly

Koodles4you

Shooter O'Brien

C.M. Higgins

Daydream

Sorry it took so long guys!

Disclaimer: Do not own! If I did, I'd be somewhere else right now, with my boys. This chapter brought to you in loving memory of my friend, Matt. Rest in peace.

Zannie got up and started towards the door, running her hands along the wall. Pretty soon she found what she was looking for. Right in the middle of the wall were quite a few scratches and a few bumps. She hooked her pinky finger into one of the smallest holes and pulled out a tiny fragment of blue ceramic.

"This must have been from the bowl that he threw across the room," Zannie told her friends, her voice quiet. "This was my grandfathers' room."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Zannie, get your ass over to this bed right now! I want to finish reading this journal!" Smartass whined.

"Smarty, whining does not suit you in the least possible way, now shut you trap. I'm meditating in the honor of Grandpa," Zannie answered to Smartass' cries. She moved quietly around the room, surveying the walls and windows and doors. This had been Spot's room; this had been where the great leader decided what had to be done.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

May 20, 1887

I had a long talk with Rose about Charley a few days ago. She seems to get upset when I mention Charley, but I don't know why. It's not like I like any of my newsies like I like rose, and especially not Charley. I think that the girl just intrigues me. None of my boys act like her. She's proud and insolent and defiant… I think that she's sort of like me. I just want to help her, that's all I want to do. Oh, and I also want to kill the West Siders, but that should have been a given.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

After my talk with Rose, I decided to head back to Brooklyn. I was too tired to deal with any meetings that night, so I had sent one of my boys over to tell Jack and his boys that I would meet them at Tibby's on the 20th.

Which just happens to be today.

"Artemis, can you come here?" I yelled into the crowded hall. People were coming back in from selling, and since I had placed the curfew on everyone, the boarding house was always packed with people during the nights.

Artemis walked in, her choppy hair a little more wind blown than usual, and her cheeks red. It had been an unusually windy day out, so she must have just come inside. "What is it Spot?"

"Artemis, I need you in charge tonight. I have a meeting with Jack, his newsies, and a few other borough leaders tonight. I need to be there, and I need someone with a good head on their shoulders to look after the place for me. You feel up to it?"

Artemis looked down at her worn shoes and played with a string on the sash that she wore about the waist of her plain white dress. "Spot, I don't think that it's a good idea for you to be going out alone, and I don't want you to leave here. Most of the others won't either. They think that you are the only one who can protect them… sometimes, at least."

"Artemis… Katy, I need you to do this for me. Just make sure no one goes out and no one gets in. I'll have Pan and Sunny help you, if you want. And I'm not going alone… I have to bring Charley with me, "I said, looking hard at Artemis.

"Fine, go if you have to. What time should we expect you back?"

I frowned, thinking. "Not till late. 12 or 1 at the most. I'll knock three times and whistle once. That way you'll know to let me and Charley inside."

Artemis nodded and I walked out of my room, leaving her there. "Charley, we're leaving. Now," I yelled, and a second later, Charley arrived at my side.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charley and I walked into Tibby's, and the moment everyone saw us, it got eerily quiet. Jack stood up, as well as some other leaders from other boroughs. I walked over to Jack and spit shook, repeating the process with the others. After the formalities, everyone sat down but me and Charley.

"Now, I called you all here because I think that we need to stick together as one," I began. "We've all sort of been separated until now, but recent circumstances and events have led me to believe that we need to stick together. West Side is becoming restless. They want more territory, more land, more selling spots. They'll do anything to get it. I've had one of my newsies murdered, in cold blood, because West Side thought that it would get me to give up my territory. We need to band together. And you need to be on your own guard, because I know that West Side will come after you next. No one is safe. They have hired assassins, and scabs, to help them out. Now, I have someone here who can say a little more about what West Side is planning. Charley." I stepped back and gave the spot light to Charley, who was looking a little frightened.

"Look. West Side doesn't care who they have to step over, or on, to get what they want. I can tell you all right now that they have at least two boys looking out in each and everyone of your territory's, at this very moment. You need to be sharp and keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious. Let one of Spot's Birds know, so that they can tell others. We need to be connected, and together, as a whole." Charley paused, taking a moment to look into everyone's eyes. "No one is safe. Set curfews, watch and listen. We don't want anyone else to fall to the West Siders. Thank you."

Jack looked up from the floor. "How many others are dead?"

"Just Crow, but that's all I know of," I answered, feeling a pang of longing for my newsie.

"We'll stick together, Spot, cause if we don't stick together, then we're nothing. You've got my full support," Jack told me.

I looked around at the other newsies, and all of them were nodding their heads, anger in their eyes. Shouts from numerous boys started to fill the room.

"We'll stick together, Spot!" Mush shouted.

"All for one and one for all," Specs said.

"United we stand, divided we fall," yelled Race and Snitch at the same time. Soon the others broke out into applause and I smiled. We were in this together and no one could stop us now.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"They were all clapping for Grandpa. Oh, I wish I could have met him, he seems so cool. And he's a brooding artist, which makes him even cooler!" Zannie sighed, as she shut the journal.

"I wonder what it was like to live back then? It must have been hard, but it sounds like so much fun as well," Cat mumbled from her curled up position on Zannie's bed.

"I don't know Cat, there seems to be some issues such as murder, gang fights and violence, and lots of protesting. Sounds a little bit dangerous to me," Smartass said, which resulted in her getting smacked with a pillow. That, in turn, resulted in the popcorn bowl getting thrown at Zannie's head, which then in turn resulted in an all out food and pillow fight.

Once again, I'm sorry for such a long wait, but I've been so busy. I'm also sorry if the chapter is so short, but that's because Race and Spot set fire to my computer. I think that the noise from the printer scared them.

Spot: We weren't scared, we were annoyed!

Race: Yeah!

Me: Oh, you were so scared, you wimpy wimps!

Spot: Who you calling wimpy, you shrimp?

Me: Who you calling a shrimp, shrimp?

Race: Okay, this needs to stop, right now. Spot apologize to Dreamer, Dreamer, apologize to Spot.

Me: Sorry. But not really

Spot: Me Too. But not really

Race: Good. Now I can play my cards in peace.

I hope that you liked the chapter… please review!

Dreamer


	11. Chapter 11

Oh my gosh… I know, it's been like, three months since I last updated, but I ran out of ideas… My brain sort of just, well, pooped out, I guess. But, now I'm back! I've been updating one of my stories pretty regularly, so I thought that maybe I should start doing other ones. And I know that all of you have been waiting for this… I feel so bad for not updating, but I've been really busy. Anyway, I promise you that I will try to update every weekend until the story is done.

Shout-Out's to all my loyal subjects… I mean readers:)

Sparks Kelly

Ccatt

Shooter O'Brien

C.M. Higgins

Koodles4you

Diariesofthepast1899

Scamley Elliot

JamesDeanismygod

Twilight-maiden

Daydream1

Once again, thanks for all of your support… in everything!

And now, The Trunk… After forever and a day!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"They were all clapping for Grandpa. Oh, I wish I could have met him, he seems so cool. And he's a brooding artist, which makes him even cooler!" Zannie sighed, as she shut the journal.

"I wonder what it was like to live back then? It must have been hard, but it sounds like so much fun as well," Cat mumbled from her curled up position on Zannie's bed.

"I don't know Cat, there seems to be some issues such as murder, gang fights and violence, and lots of protesting. Sounds a little bit dangerous to me," Smartass said, which resulted in her getting smacked with a pillow. That, in turn, resulted in the popcorn bowl getting thrown at Zannie's head, which then in turn resulted in an all out food and pillow fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunlight poured through the windows of the living room where Zannie, Smartass, and Cat were sprawled out. They had moved from Zannie's bedroom to the living room and decided to sleep on the floor, or the couch, or in Cat's case, both, because she was half on the couch and half off. Soon, as was to be expected, Cat slowly started to slip further and further onto the floor, suddenly landing with a loud smack.

"Owwww… That hurt," she moaned, rubbing her head with her hand. Quite suddenly, she had a pillow smack dab in the face.

"If you want to live to have children, then you better be quiet," a sleepy and grumpy Smartass drawled.

"Mumph un ans foo," replied a groggy Zannie, whose head was still buried in her pillow.

"What was that? I couldn't quite understand that?" Smartass said.

Zannie lifted her head from the pillow. "What's wrong with you two, can't you see that I'm trying to sleep?"

Cat lifted her head off of the floor. "Hey, where's the journal that you were reading? I want to hear some more." The three girls slowly got up and searched the room for the missing book. Smartass went upstairs to search and came back down within a matter of two or three minutes, holding the book triumphantly in her hand.

"Since I'm the one who found it, I think that I should be the one to read aloud this time," she told the other two. Cat and Zannie looked at each other, then at the journal, then at Smartass, and finally nodded in agreement. Neither of them felt like having their ass kicked so early in the morning by an angry Smartass.

The girls got settled in, for it was the weekend, and they could lie around in their PJ's if they wanted to. Smartass quickly opened to where Zannie had left off the previous day and began to read.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 2, 1887

Not much has been happening in the past couple of weeks. It's been quiet, almost too quiet, and I'm starting to get nervous. West Side seems to be biding their time, waiting for us to be unprepared, so that they can attack and have a slight chance at winning, but fuck if I'll let them get the best of me. We've been gathering our strength, waiting for something to happen, and not only has our borough been on its guard, but almost all the others have as well. If anything happens in one borough, all the others will hear about it, because I've got Birds everywhere… Every one of them that I can spare are watching for any strange activity. I've moved Charley up to be with the Birds, and Rose still isn't too happy about that, but I think that she will get over that. She's just a little jealous; at least, that's what I think. God. Women… I'll never understand them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was early in the morning when I got up. There was no way that I was going to be able to get back to sleep. Lately, my sleeping habits had tended to become more of non-sleeping habits. I couldn't get to sleep right away, and I woke up to early for my liking. I sat on my windowsill, with the window open, for it was warm for the time of year. Just as I lit a cigarette, someone flew into my room, without even bothering to knock.

"What the fuck is this, an open house?" I growled, my lack of sleep coming to surface in my voice and temper. I turned to look at the person who had barged into my private without even bothering to knock. It was Artemis, tears running down her face. "Shit Artemis, what happened? What's wrong?" I said, quietly at first, but when she didn't answer, I started to yell.

I think that my nerves must have snapped, because suddenly I was shaking the poor girl, yelling out, "What happened, what's wrong?" over and over again, until finally, my strength gave out and I collapsed onto the floor, a sobbing mess, taking Artemis down with me.

By this time, I had woken most of my newsies up and they were cluttered around my door, with Shooter tentatively standing right inside of the doorway with Sunny and Pan.

Finally, Artemis slowly spoke, sobs racking her body. "Spot, someone, they, uh, well, it's Toy. She, well, she's missing. I looked all over, but I couldn't find her, and I…" but she lost her train of thought and burst into tears again. I picked her up, silent rage running through my body, and placed her on my bed. Then I slowly walked across the room and whispered to my newsies one word, "Move." They did as they were told, and as the crowd slowly parted, I walked into the girls' room where Toy usually slept.

I went to her bed. The covers were down and there looked like there had been a struggle. "Toy, where are you?" I asked, my eyes to the sky, tears slowly running down my cheeks. "Where the fuck are you?" I yelled, knowing what had happened. This was the last straw. West Side had gone too far, taking my youngest newsie, and the one I probably cared about the most, because she was like a daughter to me. They needed to pay, and the time was now for use to make our move.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I ran back to my room, where everyone was still gathered.

"Listen up, and listen good. This is it. This is the time where we have to show West Side what we're made of, and that we're not going to take any of their fucking bullshit anymore. Is that clear?" Rousing yells and cat calls from the crowd further encouraged me. "They took Crow's life, and God help me, if they harm Toy in any way, their heads will be ripped off and stuck onto posts for all to see. Pan, go to the Bronx, tell them what's happened. Be careful when you go there, West Side is in that borough. Shooter, take Queens, and take Artemis with you. Sunny, you take Staten Island and Sparrow, you go with him. I'll take Manhattan. The rest of you, get ready… This is war."

My Newsies cheered as I pulled on shoes, grabbed my hat and cane, and started to walk out. On my way out, I grabbed Charley by the arm and dragged her out into the hallway with me. She was already dressed, with her shoes on, but not tied. "Come on, you're coming with me," I told her and turned towards the stairs, not looking back to see if she was following, because I already knew that she was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charley and I kept up a light jog all the way to Manhattan. In all honesty, I didn't think that Charley would be able to keep up with me, but she did. I clearly underestimated her capabilities. We ran over to the Manhattan Newsboys lodging house and I slowly walked around to the side of the building where the fire escape was. Charley climbed up first, and I followed after, rapidly taking the rungs two at a time. We reached the top and I lightly tapped on the window. At first I didn't get any response, but I tapped again, and again, and on the fourth try, someone slowly slid the window open. It was Skittery, who didn't look all that happy about being woken up at four in the morning.

"Whasamatta?" he slurred, clearly still tired.

"Wake up the boys Skitts, the war's about to start." Skittery stepped aside to let me and Charley in and as I climbed through the window, I couldn't help but realize that Pan was doing the same thing in the Bronx, Shooter and Artemis in Queens, and Sparrow and Sunny in Staten Island. I also couldn't help but wonder if this was all in vain, because I didn't know if Toy was still alive or not.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Holy shibby, I can not believe that West Side was stupid enough to take Toy from Brooklyn… What dumb fucks," Smartass said as she finished reading.

"Yeah, that was stupid, and I bet that Spot's really gonna kick some major ass," replied Cat. "Poor Toy, I bet she was really scared."

Zannie looked up at Cat and shook her head, her hair flying into her face. "No, I bet that Toy put up one hell of a fight. I mean, she was from Brooklyn, and was taught by my grandfather, she would have put up a big fight, in her own way." She shook her head again and smiled. "I bet she got a few good kicks, bites, and punches in before they finally got her.'

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Once again, sorry for the lack of updates.

Spot: Yeah, we kinda locked her in the closet.

Race: What the fuck are you talking about? We didn't lock her in the closet. You punched a hole in her computer screen when it wouldn't go to the web site that you wanted.

Spot: No I didn't. Get your facts straight Race, I threw a rock at it with my slingshot.

Me: Yeah, well, the point is, you guys, that I didn't update for a while.

Spot: Well, it still wasn't my fault.

Me: God, you two are a handful. First, you burn people's kitchens down, then you break my computer, then you crash my car while I was teaching you how to drive… I don't know why I put up with you. Maybe I should just put you back where you belong… In the 20th century.

Spot and Race: No we don't wanna go back!

Me: Then behave. Okay people, please review!


End file.
